Supernova Remnant Cassiopeia A: Argon Gas

Cassiopeia A, is a supernova remnant is located about 10,000 light-years away in our own Milky Way galaxy.

This infrared view shows argon gas (green) that was synthesized as it was ejected from the star.

The data for this image was taken by Spitzer's infrared spectrograph, which splits light apart to reveal the fingerprints of molecules and elements. In total, Spitzer collected separate "spectra" at more than 1,700 positions across Cassiopeia A.

The Spitzer Space Telescope is a NASA mission managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This website is maintained by the Spitzer Science Center, located on the campus of the California Institute of Technology and part of NASA's Infrared Processing and Analysis Center.